But anyone could develop NCAA, Arena Football League titles.

Since 2005, anyone wanting to make a video game version of American football has had to do so without the real stadiums, teams, and players that make EA's Madden NFL and NCAA Football series so authentic. But EA would lose at least half of its iron grip on the American football video game market under a proposed settlement plan in a class-action lawsuit first filed over four years ago.

Under the terms of the settlement, which still has to be approved by the court after being submitted last week, EA would not renew its current exclusive agreement with the NCAA when it expires in 2014, and for at least five years after that. That would open the door for truly accurate, competitive college football titles for the first time since Sega's NCAA College Football 2K3 (EA would also agree to give up its exclusive license to make Arena Football League video games in 2014, but really, how many people are going to be scrambling to make arena football video games?).

The proposed settlement is also interesting for putting a precise value on how much EA's anti-competitive practices have cost gamers over the years. Consumers who bought an EA-produced football game from 2005 on would be eligible to receive $6.79 per GameCube, PS2, or Xbox title and $1.95 per Wii, Xbox 360, or PS3 title.

But that might actually be underselling how much EA's iron grip on the football game market has affected competitive pricing. Back in 2004, Sega's well-regarded NFL 2K5 made waves by launching at $19.99, undercutting Madden 2005's more traditional $49.99 price point. EA lowered the price of its game to $29.95 before signing the exclusive NFL license later that year, and returning to the standard $49.99 price point for Madden 2006 the next year.

EA would be able to maintain the exclusive NFL license in the proposed settlement, meaning the Madden series would be set to remain one of the bestselling games of every year and a major cash cow for EA. But lawyers for the class-action seem satisfied with the outcome nonetheless.

"After more than four years of hard-fought litigation, we have reached a settlement that we strongly believe is fair to consumers," Hagens Berman attorney and managing partner Steve Berman said in a statement. "We look forward to moving this process forward and asking the court to approve this settlement, which we think is in the best interests of the class."

This case is separate from another class-action lawsuit filed by former NCAA student athletes over compensation for the use of their names and likenesses in EA's games. Retired NFL players previously won $28 million in a lawsuit alleging collusion between EA and the NFL Players Association.

Promoted Comments

"After more than four years of hard-fought litigation, we have reached a settlement that we strongly believe is fair to consumers,"

More like "this is as much as we could get EA to concede and took their bone." Consumers get back $2 - $7 for buying a game that was overpriced by $30. EA gets to keep their NFL exclusive license - which was what started the whole mess - and can continue to block competitor games through a monopoly they purchased. Madden can stagnate and continue to offer quite literally the only game in town for pro football fans and rake in its ludicrous sales and profits for EA year after year. They failed.

Hate to say it, but does it really matter? Any potential competitor would still have to develop an engine from the ground up for a new title, unless maybe they want to use the Backbreaker engine, which was pretty cool technology-wise, but didn't make for the best football experience. Back in 2005, the 2k Football series was great, but I highly doubt that Sega has been keeping up that engine just with the hopes that they'd someday have a football title again. I mean, that series never even reached the 360 and we're now probably on the verge of new consoles after another year or two.

The same problem would affect the then-excellent MVP Baseball series as well, so there's suffering on both sides. The problem for Sega is that football is more lucrative than baseball.

"After more than four years of hard-fought litigation, we have reached a settlement that we strongly believe is fair to consumers,"

More like "this is as much as we could get EA to concede and took their bone." Consumers get back $2 - $7 for buying a game that was overpriced by $30. EA gets to keep their NFL exclusive license - which was what started the whole mess - and can continue to block competitor games through a monopoly they purchased. Madden can stagnate and continue to offer quite literally the only game in town for pro football fans and rake in its ludicrous sales and profits for EA year after year. They failed.

Any settlement that doesn't break EA's NFL license exclusivity (the only one of the three that really matters) is a failure.

I'm with you there. The NFL license is disgusting, and always has been. Talk about noncompetitive. I haven't bought a NFL game in over two decades. And, I'm guessing I won't buy one in another two decades if EA has its way, either.

Of course, the NFL are really the idiots here. They have a very unique license that they could sell to everyone, yet they signed an exclusive. I wonder how much they have lost in licensing fees since there hasn't been any competition?

Of course, the NFL are really the idiots here. They have a very unique license that they could sell to everyone, yet they signed an exclusive. I wonder how much they have lost in licensing fees since there hasn't been any competition?

Well the good news is that in the second year of next gen consoles, 3 years from now (average development time of a game) there will be 5 years of competition. After that will will probably be back to the status quo. Imagine 2k14 through 2k19 priced at $29.99. It's not the best outcome but at least it's something.

Hate to say it, but does it really matter? Any potential competitor would still have to develop an engine from the ground up for a new title, unless maybe they want to use the Backbreaker engine, which was pretty cool technology-wise, but didn't make for the best football experience. Back in 2005, the 2k Football series was great, but I highly doubt that Sega has been keeping up that engine just with the hopes that they'd someday have a football title again. I mean, that series never even reached the 360 and we're now probably on the verge of new consoles after another year or two.

The same problem would affect the then-excellent MVP Baseball series as well, so there's suffering on both sides. The problem for Sega is that football is more lucrative than baseball.

Are you for real? I mean, do you really think that there are no companies out there capable of making a good football simulation? This entire lack of competition is why EA has barely updated Madden in the past few years and never worries about quality control.

Your logic seems to indicate that if a game doesn't exist right now, it won't be created later. Of course there are other companies interested in making these games. In the very worst case scenario, EA will have to actually continue upgrading their sports games to stay competitive. Much more likely, somebody will create a much better game because EA is a horrible development house.

Hate to say it, but does it really matter? Any potential competitor would still have to develop an engine from the ground up for a new title, unless maybe they want to use the Backbreaker engine, which was pretty cool technology-wise, but didn't make for the best football experience. Back in 2005, the 2k Football series was great, but I highly doubt that Sega has been keeping up that engine just with the hopes that they'd someday have a football title again. I mean, that series never even reached the 360 and we're now probably on the verge of new consoles after another year or two.

The same problem would affect the then-excellent MVP Baseball series as well, so there's suffering on both sides. The problem for Sega is that football is more lucrative than baseball.

I'd say it matters, since I seemed to enjoy just about every single other football game an order of magnitude more than Madden. Besides, EA's been basically treading water the whole time they've had an exclusive license.

Hate to say it, but does it really matter? Any potential competitor would still have to develop an engine from the ground up for a new title, unless maybe they want to use the Backbreaker engine, which was pretty cool technology-wise, but didn't make for the best football experience. Back in 2005, the 2k Football series was great, but I highly doubt that Sega has been keeping up that engine just with the hopes that they'd someday have a football title again. I mean, that series never even reached the 360 and we're now probably on the verge of new consoles after another year or two.

The same problem would affect the then-excellent MVP Baseball series as well, so there's suffering on both sides. The problem for Sega is that football is more lucrative than baseball.

Are you for real? I mean, do you really think that there are no companies out there capable of making a good football simulation? This entire lack of competition is why EA has barely updated Madden in the past few years and never worries about quality control.

Your logic seems to indicate that if a game doesn't exist right now, it won't be created later. Of course there are other companies interested in making these games. In the very worst case scenario, EA will have to actually continue upgrading their sports games to stay competitive. Much more likely, somebody will create a much better game because EA is a horrible development house.

My point is how many years of development and millions of dollars investment will it take to make a comparable game? Nobody is going to be able to just have something ready to go.

Any settlement that doesn't break EA's NFL license exclusivity (the only one of the three that really matters) is a failure.

Really. What bothers me most is that EA stopped releasing Madden for the PC yet they still have the exclusivity agreement in place. So there is no option for a person like me who does not have a console. Yes, I know, I'm probably the only one.

"Sega's well-regarded NFL 2K5 made waves by launching at $19.99, undercutting Madden 2005's more traditional $49.99 price point. EA lowered the price of its game to $29.95 before signing the exclusive NFL license later that year, and returning to the standard $49.99 price point for Madden 2006 the next year."

I think that about sums it up right there. Ooooh they had to throw a literal bone by giving NCAA and "Arena Football" but the whole main point of this lawsuit, the big fish NFL license remains unaffected. Paying $6 to the tiny amount that actually would collect is a steal in comparison to the $20 lower price or less consumers would have had to pay. Not only that there would have been some innovation in the series rather then regurgitating the same thing every year.

jhoff80 wrote:

Fritzed wrote:

jhoff80 wrote:

Hate to say it, but does it really matter? Any potential competitor would still have to develop an engine from the ground up for a new title, unless maybe they want to use the Backbreaker engine, which was pretty cool technology-wise, but didn't make for the best football experience. Back in 2005, the 2k Football series was great, but I highly doubt that Sega has been keeping up that engine just with the hopes that they'd someday have a football title again. I mean, that series never even reached the 360 and we're now probably on the verge of new consoles after another year or two.

The same problem would affect the then-excellent MVP Baseball series as well, so there's suffering on both sides. The problem for Sega is that football is more lucrative than baseball.

Are you for real? I mean, do you really think that there are no companies out there capable of making a good football simulation? This entire lack of competition is why EA has barely updated Madden in the past few years and never worries about quality control.

Your logic seems to indicate that if a game doesn't exist right now, it won't be created later. Of course there are other companies interested in making these games. In the very worst case scenario, EA will have to actually continue upgrading their sports games to stay competitive. Much more likely, somebody will create a much better game because EA is a horrible development house.

My point is how many years of development and millions of dollars investment will it take to make a comparable game? Nobody is going to be able to just have something ready to go.

That's a fallacy. How many companies and new studios make new IP's that surpass or out innovate long established series in nearly every genre be it in art and.or gameplay? Happens all the time multiple times a year, in fact most innovation is brought by these companies and new IP's trying to compete, their impetus is trying to be better then the competition, when their is no competition or it is not allowed like with EA and the NFL here you don't get that.

Also what are you trying to imply that "it will take so long" that it's not even worth doing so we should just sit here and be happy with what scraps we get from one source? What kind of attitude is that., I'm sure there are many developers that would disagree with you.

Are you for real? I mean, do you really think that there are no companies out there capable of making a good football simulation? This entire lack of competition is why EA has barely updated Madden in the past few years and never worries about quality control.

Nope, EA has barely updated Madden in the past few years because asshats are still buying this series. Why bother do more work for the same ludicrous amount of revenue? Your quality control will improve (and perhaps no one would complain about the monopoly besides devs) if everyone started boycotting this proverbial blank check for the reasons it should be boycotted.

I would like to see some competition sure, but we're not going to truly get that until gamers stop paying for stuff just because it's the "only" option.

The day the NFL and EA killed the NFL2K series marks the day I stopped buying football games. 2K was waaaaay better than Madden at the time. That was one of the big reasons EA shelled out so much for exclusivity. They were getting their asses handed to them by Visual Concepts/Sega and needed to stop the bleeding.

Ars Technica ran an article months back about how getting the last bits of accuracy are the hardest part of emulation. This deal may be evil, and EA may be evil, but it is a big ignorant to insist that the Madden games don't improve from year to year.

Even if literally the only thing they did was scout and rate players every year, that would be more work than most realize.

However, they do improve the graphics engine each year. They add more animations each year. They improve the football simulation itself every year. And they continue to do so in the same console memory limitations, which means further optimizing the engine each year.

Of course, the NFL are really the idiots here. They have a very unique license that they could sell to everyone, yet they signed an exclusive. I wonder how much they have lost in licensing fees since there hasn't been any competition?

probably nothing or they wouldn't have signed.

Yup. There's a maximum that any studio would concievably pay in licensing fees. There's also a maximum number of likely NFL games. Calls these $X and Y.

All EA has to do is pay Y*$X, and boom...exclusivity. Because $X, or even Y*$X is probably small(ish) compared to the costs of development, marketing, etc. Not only that, but now you can actually cut back on all those, because you no longer have competition.

The NFL wins, because they get the same fees they'd have likely gotten anyways.

IIRC the guy who came up with the Arena League rule set went out and patented or had it copyrighted or something to that effect, so no, not just anyone can come up with an Arena league rules-based game.

Don't get me wrong, a good Arena league game would probably help spur some more interest in the league itself, I know growing up playing Tecmo Bowl and later on the Madden games helped me learn some funky rules. But in interviews I've seen with the guy who's at the top, the more I'm convinced he's just like any other heartless, greed-focused business man, who probably would sue someone for making an Arena league football game.

I don't understand sports gamers. A company could come out with a game that is better in every way to the EA football game but with fictional teams and players, and it would not sell. Sports fans are so fucking stupid - who cares if you're playing your own team in an imaginary sports game?

That's a fallacy. How many companies and new studios make new IP's that surpass or out innovate long established series in nearly every genre be it in art and.or gameplay? Happens all the time multiple times a year, in fact most innovation is brought by these companies and new IP's trying to compete, their impetus is trying to be better then the competition, when their is no competition or it is not allowed like with EA and the NFL here you don't get that.

Also what are you trying to imply that "it will take so long" that it's not even worth doing so we should just sit here and be happy with what scraps we get from one source? What kind of attitude is that., I'm sure there are many developers that would disagree with you.

Most of those new IPs are using existing engines, whether it's Unreal, Source, etc. The only up to date football engine is EA's. I mean, Backbreaker developed its own engine for the game. They ANNOUNCED it in August 2007. They didn't release a game until June 2010. Moreover, the football actually in the title wasn't realistic feeling. They had the physics down, but the gameplay just wasn't good.

In order to get a simulation to feel realistic, you need to have the details right, and it takes a ton of effort to get those details right.

I'd love to see competition in football games, but the real point here is that a company has to find it financially viable to put out a game. They'd have to pay for a license, develop an engine from scratch, and get all the details right to be a quality game... a process which would most likely take 3 years at a minimum, and then somehow sell enough to make that period of development a worthwhile investment. I just don't see it happening.

As much as everyone hates EA, they know what they're doing when they make business choices. They wouldn't have settled in this case if they didn't think that it'll have no effect whatsoever on their bottom line.

Ars Technica ran an article months back about how getting the last bits of accuracy are the hardest part of emulation. This deal may be evil, and EA may be evil, but it is a big ignorant to insist that the Madden games don't improve from year to year.

Even if literally the only thing they did was scout and rate players every year, that would be more work than most realize.

However, they do improve the graphics engine each year. They add more animations each year. They improve the football simulation itself every year. And they continue to do so in the same console memory limitations, which means further optimizing the engine each year.

Man-hours alone don't make a great game.

Look at every successful sports game franchise, ever. At some point, it was the newcomer in the field, and somehow it gained its edge over the incumbents.

As much as everyone hates EA, they know what they're doing when they make business choices. They wouldn't have settled in this case if they didn't think that it'll have no effect whatsoever on their bottom line.

The whole point is that they're keeping their exclusive license. Madden will continue to be the only NFL-licensed game.

I don't understand sports gamers. A company could come out with a game that is better in every way to the EA football game but with fictional teams and players, and it would not sell. Sports fans are so fucking stupid - who cares if you're playing your own team in an imaginary sports game?

I know a lot of people who play sports games to "simulate" how the actual teams would play against each other. Heck, I had a roommate who'd fill his NCAA basketball brackets by letting the AI play itself.

I don't understand sports gamers. A company could come out with a game that is better in every way to the EA football game but with fictional teams and players, and it would not sell. Sports fans are so fucking stupid - who cares if you're playing your own team in an imaginary sports game?

The NFL and EA belong together if you ask me. Both function under the guise that they are doing things for the fans, but the products say otherwise. I've given up on both of them.

Most of those new IPs are using existing engines, whether it's Unreal, Source, etc. The only up to date football engine is EA's. I mean, Backbreaker developed its own engine for the game. They ANNOUNCED it in August 2007. They didn't release a game until June 2010. Moreover, the football actually in the title wasn't realistic feeling. They had the physics down, but the gameplay just wasn't good.

In order to get a simulation to feel realistic, you need to have the details right, and it takes a ton of effort to get those details right.

I'd love to see competition in football games, but the real point here is that a company has to find it financially viable to put out a game. They'd have to pay for a license, develop an engine from scratch, and get all the details right to be a quality game... a process which would most likely take 3 years at a minimum, and then somehow sell enough to make that period of development a worthwhile investment. I just don't see it happening.

As much as everyone hates EA, they know what they're doing when they make business choices. They wouldn't have settled in this case if they didn't think that it'll have no effect whatsoever on their bottom line.

Yes, it may take a while for competition to come back, but if anything, that just says that it's more urgent. We've got to fix this problem before the ecosystem decays further. And I wouldn't worry all that much about it being financially viable, because there are plenty of gamers that want a non-Madden game, and last time I checked, the Madden games were awful anyway.

That's a fallacy. How many companies and new studios make new IP's that surpass or out innovate long established series in nearly every genre be it in art and.or gameplay? Happens all the time multiple times a year, in fact most innovation is brought by these companies and new IP's trying to compete, their impetus is trying to be better then the competition, when their is no competition or it is not allowed like with EA and the NFL here you don't get that.

Also what are you trying to imply that "it will take so long" that it's not even worth doing so we should just sit here and be happy with what scraps we get from one source? What kind of attitude is that., I'm sure there are many developers that would disagree with you.

Most of those new IPs are using existing engines, whether it's Unreal, Source, etc. The only up to date football engine is EA's. I mean, Backbreaker developed its own engine for the game. They ANNOUNCED it in August 2007. They didn't release a game until June 2010. Moreover, the football actually in the title wasn't realistic feeling. They had the physics down, but the gameplay just wasn't good.

In order to get a simulation to feel realistic, you need to have the details right, and it takes a ton of effort to get those details right.

I'd love to see competition in football games, but the real point here is that a company has to find it financially viable to put out a game. They'd have to pay for a license, develop an engine from scratch, and get all the details right to be a quality game... a process which would most likely take 3 years at a minimum, and then somehow sell enough to make that period of development a worthwhile investment. I just don't see it happening.

As much as everyone hates EA, they know what they're doing when they make business choices. They wouldn't have settled in this case if they didn't think that it'll have no effect whatsoever on their bottom line.

They settled becuase they knew they would get lambasted and lose their monopoly on the NFL license if the whole trial went through. Better to sprain a couple fingers then lose the whole hand.

I really don't get your argument either about "it'll be tough", are you still implying that we should not try becuase it could take a few years ...what are you going to say in a few years when the fruits of their labor was supposed to come to a reality ...uhh wait longer? But if we would have started earlier we would have had something NOW, while you're still sitting there saying "It'll take years!". Having a "big" problem means all the more incentive to start now and not later. Your arguments are also hypothetical, hearsay and defeatist. If anything massive precedent in the industry have shown that your arguments about a company not being able to produce great in the same genre as another company is false.

Arty50 wrote:

The day the NFL and EA killed the NFL2K series marks the day I stopped buying football games. 2K was waaaaay better than Madden at the time. That was one of the big reasons EA shelled out so much for exclusivity. They were getting their asses handed to them by Visual Concepts/Sega and needed to stop the bleeding.

I remember that, they started to get better reviews then magically the exclusivity/monopoly deal happened.

I don't understand sports gamers. A company could come out with a game that is better in every way to the EA football game but with fictional teams and players, and it would not sell. Sports fans are so fucking stupid - who cares if you're playing your own team in an imaginary sports game?

The NFL and EA belong together if you ask me. Both function under the guise that they are doing things for the fans, but the products say otherwise. I've given up on both of them.

Very true. I haven't given up on the game...but I hate the NFL, especially the suits who run it. All the NFL cares about is the huge chunk of cash it gets from EA. They are not concerned with the poor quality of the product.

I wonder why 2K Games won't compete with EA in making their own NFL titles... They make good basketball games & also had an exclusive contract with NBA until last year... It's risky to make new IP, but hey 2K has a huge loyal fan base, who would love to try something new...

I wonder why 2K Games won't compete with EA in making their own NFL titles... They make good basketball games & also had an exclusive contract with NBA until last year... It's risky to make new IP, but hey 2K has a huge loyal fan base, who would love to try something new...

? Please reread the article.

As for me, I'll more than happily continue my boycott of anything that carries EA anywhere on the box.

Step 1) Make a Football game with fictitious teams and playersStep 2) Make it easy to mod by the communityStep 3) Let the community make mods that will put all the real teams and players into you gameStep 4) ?????Step 5) Profit.

Works for Football (i.e. soccer) Manager, they don't have licenses for all the team badges and player faces, but you can download various community facepacks to put them back in.

If Madden's monopoly was so awful, why is it still such a cash cow? I mean, if all you folks that take exception to it actually voted with your wallets and quit buying it then it wouldn't be endlessly iterated. The NFL wouldn't be getting the licensing money it expects, or is contractually owed, and it would invalidate EA's exclusivity. Is it the crazy football-fan mob mentality that keeps you buying it? Seriously, rebuying the SAME GAME year after year. . . That's worse than all the Call of Honor: Medal of Duty: Black War: Modern Combat: Extraneous Subtitle bro-gamers out there. I used to LOVE, absolutely LOVE, the Tony Hawk franchise but I haven't bought one since THPS 4 because the series got run into the ground. THAW and THUG were awful and Ride was a terrible idea. I wasn't alone, Activision got the hint and quit making sub-par Tony Hawk games. The recent THPS: HD, has been pretty amazing though. Maybe if you Madden-pariahs got together and quit buying them in large enough numbers to affect EA's bottom line, they'd rethink their approach. Keep in mind, all those Madden bucks are sure to help the company make compelling games like Dead Space and Mirror's Edge. It's not so cut and dried.

Kyle Orland / Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area.